(The Center Square) – Wondering how your child’s school is really doing this year? Virginia has launched a new rating system that gives parents a clearer view of school performance.
The ratings were released by the Virginia Department of Education as part of a new framework that adds clearer performance categories alongside the commonwealth’s existing accreditation system.
Under the School Performance and Support Framework, schools are grouped into four performance levels: Distinguished, On Track, Off Track and Needs Intensive Support.
The framework evaluates schools based on mastery, growth, readiness and graduation, with different measures weighted by grade level, according to VDOE.
Schools can remain fully accredited while still being identified as needing additional academic support, a distinction state education officials say is meant to guide improvement rather than label schools as failing.
In Hanover County Public Schools, all schools listed in the division’s summary remain fully accredited and rated either On Track or Distinguished under the new framework. Seven schools earned a Distinguished rating, according to the VDOE data.
In Richmond City Public Schools, schools fall across multiple performance categories. Some schools earned Distinguished ratings under the new framework, while others were rated On Track, Off Track or identified as needing intensive support.
While many schools in the division remain fully accredited, Richmond City Public Schools also include schools listed as conditionally accredited under the state framework.
Chesterfield County Public Schools, one of the largest divisions in the region, also shows a wide range of results under the new ratings. Schools in the division cross multiple performance categories, including campuses rated On Track and others identified as needing intensive support. The division includes a mix of fully and conditionally accredited schools under the state framework.
The framework is meant to provide clearer information about how schools are performing and flag campuses that may need additional academic support, according to VDOE.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a post on X, “Our Student Performance and Support Framework is providing timely, trustworthy data so we can target support to the students, schools and communities who need it most.”
Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi said the new ratings reflect broader concerns she has raised about public education. Hashmi, who currently represents parts of Richmond and Chesterfield County in the state Senate, said in a statement the administration’s education policies have left behind a “legacy of division, distraction, and decline.”
